07-05-2025
Federal judge deals another blow to church in Hutchinson Center dispute
May 7—A federal judge has again sided with the University of Maine System in a lawsuit filed by an evangelical church to stop the sale of a Belfast building it once hoped to buy.
The Calvary Chapel church in Belfast is arguing the system exhibited antireligious bias when it revoked an agreement it had to sell the Hutchinson Center to the church and entertained another round of bids, ultimately selling the building to a local nonprofit in November. The two parties have been locked in a legal dispute ever since.
U.S. District Court Judge Stacey Neumann issued a ruling Wednesday in which she said the church failed to show evidence of religious animus in the system's decision. Calvary Chapel quickly filed an appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
"The Church has produced no evidence of impermissible religious animus from within the System," and there is no "intent by the System to discriminate on the basis of religion or adopt the community's religious animus," Neumann wrote.
University of Maine System spokesperson Samantha Warren said an emailed statement Wednesday that the system has always maintained it did not discriminate against the church.
"Today, the Court upheld that the transparent, competitive process through which our System has sought to sell the Hutchinson Center offered fair opportunity to all parties," Warren said. "That includes those who may be disappointed by our decision to ultimately award the right to negotiate sale terms and conditions to a community organization that offered more than double the purchase price of any other bidder."
Liberty Counsel, a Christian ministry based in Orlando, Florida that litigates on behalf of religious freedom causes, is representing Calvary Chapel. Daniel Schmid, the lead attorney on the case, said Wednesday that he believes the judge's ruling was incorrect and ignored evidence that the system violated its own process.
"They blew up the entire procedure to rescind Calvary Chapel's award, and then looked for a backdoor to justify their pretextual rescission of that. And we think we have a good chance of success on appeal," Schmid said.
THE BIDS
The University of Maine System received three bids last summer when it opened up a sale of the Hutchinson Center, a Belfast educational hub that hasn't hosted in-person classes since 2020. The winning bid came from Calvary Chapel Belfast, which said it planned to use the building to expand its congregation.
But the two other bidders filed appeals, some community members objected and the system ultimately rescinded the sale, citing a procedural error in the assessment process that didn't account for a network hub based in the building and the cost of keeping it in place.
The system put out a new call for bids in the fall and received offers from the same three bidders. But this time, the nonprofit Waldo Community Action Partners submitted a bid for $3.06 million — far over the assessed value and much higher than Calvary Chapel's second-round bid of $1.1 million. The system awarded WCAP the building in November.
Shortly after, the church filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing the system showed religious bias in the bidding and sale process. They also requested a temporary restraining order to stop the sale. But Neuman denied that request in January, writing that the church did not present sufficient evidence that the system was motivated by religious bias or that the bidding process was rigged.
The court held an evidentiary hearing on March 4 on a preliminary injunction requested by the church, which again sought to stop the sale while litigation continued. In her ruling this week on that injunction, Neuman maintained her position.
Schmid, the church's attorney, said he believes the church provided plenty of evidence that public animus against the church pressured the university to change its decision. And he said the process is a long way from over — in addition to the appeal, the church has filed a notice in the Waldo County recording office that warns potential purchasers of the building that the lawsuit may "unwind" that sale.
"I would have preferred for Calvary Chapel be in it today. They were lawfully entitled to it, their ministry could benefit from it, and they were unconstitutionally and unlawfully denied access to it. So in any just world they should be there," Schmid said.
Warren said in her statement that the university system will continue to defend itself in any further proceedings.
"We welcome the Court's decision, which is yet another affirmation of the integrity of our process and our continued commitment to acting in the best interests of our public institutions and the tuition and taxpayers of Maine," she said.
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